Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Movie Review

By: Lynn Barker

In Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, beginning scenes establish the different working “styles” of government operatives Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Hobbs is more street fighter, Shaw more “James Bond”. Hobbs is raising his precocious young daughter while Shaw visits mom Queenie (Helen Mirren) in jail. When cybernetically-enhanced anarchist Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) plans to launch a killer virus on the world, Shaw’s estranged MI6 sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) tries to stop him only to be injected with the virus. Hobbs and Shaw must reluctantly work together to stop Lore, save the world and Shaw’s sis.  

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Trailer

Hobbs, Shaw and Hattie

After we are shown the different working and lifestyle habits of Hobbs and Shaw, we see a squad of British MI6 “soldiers” attack a warehouse in search of a deadly virus held there by Brixton Lore, now strong as a Terminator via a high tech, mechanically-enhanced body. Hattie Shaw has to inject herself with the virus in order to keep it from Lore who kills her whole squad. She escapes. Lore frames her for killing the squad so she is on the run with him swearing to find her and get the virus back.

Hattie's squad tries to take the virus from LoreCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Unlikely Duo

Hobbs and Shaw are separately contacted (Hobbs by a CIA man unexpectedly played by funny Ryan Reynolds) to find Hattie, the virus and stop Lore. They hate each other (from previous experiences in the Fast & Furious films) and refuse at first. They work separately to find Hattie with Shaw searching Hattie’s apartment and Hobbs, the expert tracker, finding and fighting with her on the streets of London. Hobbs finally takes her back to CIA HQ and asks where the virus is. Shaw arrives and Hattie admits that she self-injected the virus. She has tiny capsules of it in her bloodstream and they will break open, kill her and no doubt half the world in a limited time (about 42 hours).

The guys reluctantly agree to work togetherCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Lore Attacks

Brixton Lore and his crew break in and cleverly kidnap Hattie.  The guys discover that Lore’s Terminator-type electronics make him capable of anticipating their every move in a fight so he is almost unbeatable. Shaw supposedly killed him eight years ago but he’s been “fixed” by the advanced cybernetics lab Eteon. After an impressive chase involving a hot car and a very advanced motorcycle, the guys get Hattie back but Lore has cleverly set them up in the media as terrorists on the run.  The guys and Hattie then find and rescue from Lore Professor Andreiko (Eddie Marsan), who made the virus.  He explains that in order to save Hattie from the virus, they have to either kill her or retrieve the equipment to extract it from the secret Eteon facility in Ukraine, Russia.

Lore is enhanced in the labCourtesy of Universal Pictures

In the Ukraine

With help from a bored air marshal with international connections (surprise cameo by known funny actor), the trio then travels to Russia, where Hobbs and Shaw get equipped by one of Shaw’s underworld girlfriends and Hattie intentionally surrenders herself to Brixton Lore in order to get near the extraction machine.

Shaw's old girlfriend outfits the teamCourtesy of Universal Pictures

After being grabbed by Lore and again escaping elaborately with Hattie and the extraction machine, the trio thinks they won until they realize that the escape damaged the machine. Only a master mechanic can repair it. Hobbs knows one; his own brother Jonah (Cliff Curtis) in Samoa. The air marshal gets them there.

Hattie and Shaw try to escape the lab facilityCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Samoa Battle

We learn that Hobbs hasn’t seen his family for 25 years due to his turning his dad in for criminal activity. The brother they need hates him but his mom welcomes him and his “friends”. Dad used to run an illegal chop shop with Hobbs’ brothers. Mom was afraid for their safety so got rid of all dad’s guns. However, she is well-stocked with native Samoan war weapons, spears, clubs etc. Hobbs makes up with his brothers and they start preparing for Lore and crew’s arrival. Jonah repairs the extraction machine and straps it onto Hattie but it will take a while to totally extract the tiny capsules inside her.

Hattie in actionCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Success?

Will our trio plus a Samoan “army” be able to beat Lore and his gang? Will Hattie survive and secure the virus? Will Hobbs and Shaw finally be able to work together willingly to beat Lore despite all his cyber-enhancements? Will the guys work together in future?

Shaw and Hobbs in action in SamoaCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Stay in your seat for 2 mid-credits scenes and especially an end of credits scene that should establish the new team if there is a sequel to this film.

Wrapping Up

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw retains elements of the Fast & Furious films (crazy “car”/vehicle action combined with emphasis on “Family”) while including slick, “impossible”, creative stunts reminding us of a James Bond film with entertaining but unbelievable  chases and cool, high tech gadgets.

One of the crazy stuntsCourtesy of Universal Pictures

Dwayne and Jason have a great comic and buddy chemistry and it is cool that the Hattie character, well-played by feisty Vanessa Kirby, proves to be a great, strong, inventive fighter capable of rescuing the two guys if necessary.

Jason and Dwayne perform one of the crazy stuntsCourtesy of Universal Pictures

The film is at least 20 minutes too long and the one-upsmanship banter between the two leads becomes too repetitive after a while as do the many hand combat sequences.

Brixton Lore ready to attackCourtesy of Universal Pictures

The story, the threat could certainly have been more original.  How many action/spy films have you seen in which the baddie wants to launch a deadly plague virus on the world?  I would have hoped for a more original plot.. A Terminator-like, part man, part machine baddie certainly has been seen before although Idris Elba gives him some class. Many of the story plot points are totally illogical (who would use advanced hand weapons that can easily be totally shut down mid-battle by the average computer hacker?) but we usually don’t care about this in a summer blockbuster.

If you are ready for a funny, more fantasy than fact, illogical but entertaining summer popcorn movie with hunky and appealing lead actors, this is probably your movie. We go a strong three stars. If we awarded a ½ star, it would be 3 and a half.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Movie Rating: 

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

See Hobbs & Shaw in theaters Friday!

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